Species of Nortli American Tortoises. 103 



4. Testudo reticulata. 



Testa ovalis, posterius dilatata, ecarinata, longitudinaliter ru- 

 gosa, fusco-nigra, lineis brevibus flavis reticulata, collum prse- 

 longum caputque flavo-lineata. 



Emys reticulata, Merrem. Yellow-bellied Tarapin, vulg. 



Shell moderately gibbous, oval, wider and subemarginate 

 behind, ecarinate, longitudinally rugous, dusky or dark brown 

 reticulate with short yellow lines, which form spaces in some 

 degree shaped like the plates ; a line of the same colour ex- 

 tends along the middle of the back. First vertebral plate 

 almost pentagonal, broader on the forepart ; the second hex- 

 agonal, with sometimes a double sinus on its anterior face, but 

 oftener without ; the third hexagonal, a little re-entering on its 

 posterior side ; the fourth hexagonal, broader, and rounded on 

 its anterior face, so as to enter the sinus of the third, narrower 

 and sometimes emarginate behind ; the fifth heptagonal, round- 

 ed on its two posterior sides : lateral plates large, subrhomboidal, 

 the first with the sides antiparallel, the two next a little angled 

 on their superior faces : intermediate marginal plate narrow, 

 oblong, entire, the rest nearly square ; those above the hind 

 legs broader, and spreading, all of them with a yellow perpendi- 

 cular line through the middle. Sternum emarginate behind, 

 very smooth, and with the marginal plates beneath yellow, the 

 latter (except those anterior to the brachial plates) sometimes 

 with each a large black spot placed at the junction ; a broad 

 black bar also sometimes extends along the wings (frequently 

 two only of the marginal plates on each side have a black spot 

 and the hinder part of the wings another — sometimes again the 

 wings are marked with a broad black bar, and there are no 



Vol. III. 14 



